Sitting Quietly, Doing Nothing, began as a journey around the world but has evolved into a journey into the Self.

Gratitude

The idea, or rather the feeling of gratitude has been growing in me lately. I’ve been wondering if it is something I can write about, determined I probably could not, until reading a friend’s post literally as if it was written to me. How serendipitous!

My gratitude extends far and wide, to the myriad things that have conspired to for me to be right here, right now. And no, not exactly sweating profusely on a rickety old bus in southern Thailand – the greater part of my right now, this entire movement towards a life of Love and Wisdom, Connectedness and Compassion.

My recent retreat focused on the concept of the spiritual heart, moving one’s center of consciousness from the mind to the center of the chest, opening towards a state of nonduality and love. The meditations were partially guided (usually the first 5-10 minutes), and one of the most poetic metaphors that kept coming up was this idea of blowing upon the ember of the heart. The ember represents the hidden power of the light of the spirit, hidden in the material world of the earth. When blown upon, it ignites into brilliant light and heat, and when many embers are close together they can also erupt into light. Beautiful.

I find myself often in meditation giving thanks, being grateful for so much. The cushion I’m sitting on, the Zendo I’m in and the others in it practicing with me. The Buddha, the incense and all those who worked tirelessly to produce such things. The individuals who created the conditions for the Zendo to exist, their teachers and the entire lineage. My life: my parents for their unconditional love, my sister, my greater family, friends, lovers, and even the single serving friends who passed through this existence with me just for a moment or a few hours. I am grateful for all of my teachers, old and new, the many authors and poets who have inspired me. Then there is the great expanse of mother earth, her plants and light that has nourished me, her oceans and deserts and great mountains and streams that have provided countless undulations of inspiration and bliss. The list goes on and on.

This feeling often evokes several expressions of Dogen’s:

The entire world in the ten directions is the true human body

and part of Genjo Koan:

Conveying the self to the myriad things to authenticate them is delusion; the myriad things advancing to authenticate the self is enlightenment